


You Risked Blair's Life

by Bluewolf458



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 06:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30084999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluewolf458/pseuds/Bluewolf458
Summary: Naomi leaves one of her boyfriends
Relationships: Blair Sandburg/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	You Risked Blair's Life

**Author's Note:**

> Every two months the Saturday night TS chat does a 'concrit' where we get a prompt to write a 600-word story, and the other participants do a constructive criticism of it. This is an extension of the March concrit, the prompt being 'spring'

You Risked Blair's Life

by Bluewolf

By the time he was twelve, Blair had begun to wonder why his mother never seemed to settle with anyone. She moved in with a man for a few weeks - perhaps three months, sometimes less - then moved on.

She did, Blair noticed, stay longer with the ones who treated him well - and some of them did seem genuinely fond of him. Several times he wished that she would decide to stay with his current 'uncle' - but he knew it was a fruitless wish. She always moved on.

Trent Fairley was one of those men. Rich enough that he didn't have to work, he involved Blair in most of his several hobbies. Blair would have been happy to call him 'Dad', but at twelve, nearly thirteen, he knew that Naomi would - inevitably - move on. Indeed, after some two months, he had begun to see signs that she was getting restless, and knew they wouldn’t be staying there much longer.

Trent lived in South Oregon, very close to the Pacific. He owned a cabin cruiser, Beauty, and he often sailed out a mile or two from land on a good day, cut off the engine and just sat there enjoying the peace for two or three hours, and often took Blair. Blair found just sitting watching the sea somewhat boring, but he enjoyed the time spent with Trent who, even as he sat watching the sea, spoke about it, about what he was seeing, about the way the sea creatures lived. And even, once or twice, about the way of life of the indigenous people who lived on the oceanic islands, anthropology being something he had studied when he was at university.

On this day, they were about two miles out, Trent relaxed, Blair a little less so, when something bumped into the boat. Trent hurried from the deck into the cabin. Moments later he ran back onto the deck.

"Blair, help me get the dinghy into the water!"

Blair obeyed, urged to hurry by the near panic in Trent's voice. He swung down the rope ladder into the dinghy they used when they had to anchor some distance out; Trent followed.

"What's wrong?" Blair asked.

"Whatever hit us caused the boat to spring a serious leak." Trent was accessing the oars fastened along the length of the dinghy as he spoke, and began to row away from the cabin cruiser which was already settling lower in the water.

They had gone roughly a hundred yards when Beauty disappeared under the water, leaving only a few bubbles to mark where she had been.

Trent rowed steadily for some more minutes, then paused, taking a deep breath.

"What hit the boat?" Blair asked.

Trent shook his head. "I have no idea," he said. And then he carried on rowing.

After a while, Blair said, "Want me to row for a few minutes, give you a break?"

"No," Trent said. "I brought you out here, it's up to me to get you home."

***

A journey out to sea that had taken only a few minutes in Beauty took much longer to row back to land.

Naomi was waiting at the dock when they arrived. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Something - I don't know what it was - hit Beauty and holed her."

"Right. Blair, go up to the house and get your bag - I've already packed it. Check your room to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"Mom, it wasn't Uncle Trent's fault, and he got me straight into the dinghy," Blair protested.

"Taking you out to sea like that risked your life! Go and get your bag!"

As Blair reluctantly obeyed, Naomi turned to Trent. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I can't risk you endangering Blair again. Goodbye, Trent." She turned and made her way to her car.

Her bag was already in the trunk. Blair came out with his bag, to which he had added a book Trent had given him, and put it beside hers, closed the trunk and looked over towards Trent, who seemed surprisingly resigned to Naomi's reaction. "Goodbye - and thank you!" he called before he climbed into the passenger seat. Then he sent good wishes back towards Trent as Naomi drove off.

'You risked Blair's life'. Mentally, Blair shook his head, wondering what reason Naomi would have given for leaving if he and Trent had returned safely in Beauty - because he was quite sure that she had decided to leave that day. Yes, packing their bags didn't have to take more than a few minutes, though every time they had packed in a hurry they inevitably left something behind - not that that particularly bothered Naomi, who regarded possessions, other than a change of clothes, as unnecessary. It was surprising that she had allowed him to check his room this time for anything she might have missed! And he would have regretted losing the old book Trent had given him.

He had a suspicion that Naomi had left it on purpose. She read, but never re-read; she wouldn’t understand his interest in having a book that he would find interesting on the second, third or even hundred and second reread.

As he remembered the weeks they had spent with Trent, the things Trent had told him, Blair began to feel that anthropology - which had begun to interest him anyway, as a result of the things he had seen as Naomi traveled the world - would be a very rewarding career choice. And as he decided that, he sent another grateful thought back towards Trent.


End file.
